The Kippens | Tyrus

Prologue

Cyrus' POV

Seeing TJ now gives me flashbacks to the first time I saw him in a suit. That was my thirteenth birthday, and I hardly spoke to him. I was too nervous. I remember feeling my breath catch in my chest for a moment when I saw him come up to me, and my pulse started racing. Back then, I thought there was no chance that he'd ever look at me the way I looked at him.

Now, 12 years later, he still makes my heart go wild, but now he's wearing a smoke grey suit with a tie I got him back when we were in post-secondary. He looks different but the same. A few strands of his blonde hair fall over his forehead, for he stopped gelling his hair back. His jaw is more defined, but his smile is still the same. And his eyes, by far my favorite part, still look at me with a certain softness only reserved for me, the way they did when we were thirteen.

Tonight, his vulnerable gaze is tinted with the excitement we both feel. The past twelve years have been anything but smooth, but everything that happened before, none of that even matters anymore, because we're hear now, listing to a classic rock song of TJ's choice, while our friends dance around us. My mom and step-dad have been up on their feet since the first song, and they show no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

TJ's sister is what breaks me out of my thoughts as she approaches TJ and I, pulling her girlfriend, Andi along by the hand. They're both dressed up formally, Amber in a puffy, pink cocktail dress, and Andi in a much simpler, yellow bodycon dress. Andi had told me that the two of them went out shopping the day TJ and I sent out the invitations.

"The food was fantastic," Amber tells her brother.

"And the cake: amazing," Andi agrees.

"The baby taters were a good choice," Amber says with a grin.

"It wouldn't be my wedding if there weren't baby taters," I respond.

TJ catches my eye with his and smiles, as though he'd forgotten why we were here and is happy to be reminded.

Behind the girls, I notice Buffy and Marty winding through the dancing people to get to us.  They, too, are dressed up for the occasion, Buffy in a purple A-line dress, and Marty in a suit with a white bow tie. Right when they're almost where we are, Marty and Buffy get distracted by Marty's ringing cell phone, and Marty leaves to take the call while Buffy continues the rest of the way to us.

"Sorry about that," Buffy apologizes. "I feel like he's been on the phone all night, but his sister keeps calling. We were coming to tell yiu that your first dance was adorable."

"Thanks," I respond, blushing a little. "And don't worry about the phone calls. I know babysitting can be stressful sometimes."

"Marty's sister just worries so much," Buffy explains. "She calls for every little thing. Last week, she called us because she wasn't sure which lullaby to sing to Sabrina before bed."

Sabrina is their daughter and both Buffy's and Marty's first brush with the whole parenting thing. While pregnant, Buffy had been reading so many parenting books that she's now able to spew any and every theory on how to raise a kid. Marty, on the other hand, spent the nine months deciding which sports he was going to put her in once she becomes old enough to walk. At the moment, he's deciding between lacrosse, hockey and soccer.

"Well, if you ever need a babysitter, Cyrus and I would be happy to watch her every once in a while," TJ offers.

"Yeah," I agree.